Paper-feed mechanism for voting-machines.



APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1912.

Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEBT 1.

WITNESSES:

4 TTOR/VEV C. C. ABBOTT. PAPER FEED MECHANISM FOR VOTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1912.

Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

2 SHEETS*SHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

lA/l/EA/TUR M 6. 0%?

14 7TOR/VEV devised the novel mechanism which I will apertures which are covered by shutters 11 STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES C. ABBOTT, OF PITTSPIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TO TRIUMPH VOTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF NEW JERSEY.

PAPER-FEED MECHANISM FOR VQTING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Original application filed January 30, 1912;Serial No.

Patented Feb. 3, 1914. 674,394. Divided and this application filed Kay 16,

1912. Serial No. 697,667.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES C. citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsfield, county of Berkshire, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Paper-Feed Mechanism for Voting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to independent voting mechanism for voting machines, and more particularly to mechanism for feeding the strip, usually of paper, upon which the independent votes are recorded.

The present case is a division of my prior application filed Jan. 30, 1912, Serial No. 674,394.

The present invention has for its object to provide a simple and efficient. locking mechanism for the voting strip adapted to prevent the same from'being drawn from the supply roll at-the time of casting the vote, thereby preventing a voter from fraudulently recording more than a single ABBOTT, a l

vote for any one candidate.

WVith this and other objects in viewI have now describe, referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and using reference characters to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away, the rolls being shown without paper, and one of the independent shutters being shown in open position, the remainder of said shutters being closed. Fig. 2 is a vertical section, partly broken away, on line 2-2, F ig. 1. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional. view on line 22, Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3, Fig. 1. I

For convenience the various features of the invention are shown as applied to independent voting mechanism of the general type shown and described in Letters Patent No. 914,007, granted to me March 2, 1909, to which reference may be had for a more complete description and illustration of parts only briefly referred to herein.

10 denotes the machine casing having a back or shutter plate which forms part of the voting face of the machine. Said back or shutter plate is provided with voting arranged to slide vertically in suitable ways I of said plate. The independent vot-ing strip, not shown, passes over a backing 13 rigidly secured in place contiguous to the voting apertures.

14 denotes the supply roll and 15 a combined receiving and feeding roll.

The independent voting strip passes from the supply roll over the backing plate and the independent votes are written upon the portion of the strip supported therebv as fully described in my prior Patent I No. 914,007 above referred to. After passing the backing plate the strip is wound upon the receiving roll.

16 and 17 denote brackets riveted to the ack plate 10 and to the front plate 18 (see Fig. 3) of the machine casing.

19 (see Fig. 1) denotes a fixed stud secured to the bracket 16 and upon which one end of the supply roll 14 is joulnaled. The opposite end of said supply roll is journaled upon a stud 20 slidably mounted in a guide or casing 21, and normally held by a spring 22 with its end within the hollow end of said roll 14.

23 denotes a pin projecting from the stud 20 and extending through a slot 24 in the casing 21, said pin serving as a handle by which said stud 20 may be operated, and also acting, by engagement with the end of the slot 24, as a stop to limit the movement of said stud under the influence of the spring 22. In order to remove the supply roll 14 from the machine the stud 20 is moved to the left, as shown in Fig. 1. against the pressure of the spring 22, by means of the handle 23, out of the end of said supply roll, which may thereupon be disengaged from the fixed stud 19 and removed from the machine.

The casing 21 is supported adjacent one end by the bracket 17 and at the other end by being riveted to the side wall 25 of the machine casing.

lVhile the roll 14 is readily detachable from the machine, its axis of rotatiou, when in place, is fixed by the alined studs 19 and 20.

The receiving or feed roll 15 is pro vided at one end with a journal 20 mounted in a substantially semicylindrical bearing :27. The opposite end of said roll 15 is provid d with a fixed clutch memher QS having a reduced portion mounted in a semi-cylindrical bearing 29.

denotes a feed shaft which extends loosely through the roll 15 and is journaled in bearings 31.

The bearings 27, 29 and 31 are formed in brackets supported by filling pieces 32 secured to the shutter plate 10. Said filling pieces serve also to support the backing plate 13 and to space the same from the front plates 10 and shutters 11 to provide room for the passage of the paper strip between said plates.

33 denotes pinions fixed to the feed shaft. said pinions engaging racks formed on operating bars 34 and 35 which reciprocate vertically and carry a closing bar 36. a

37 denotes a clutch sleeve on the feed shaft so as to rotate therewith but" movable longitudinally thereon. Said clutch sleeve cooperates with the clutch member 28 carried by the receiving roll 15, and is provided with a groove which is engaged by a clutch fork or shifter 38, hereinafter more fully described.

39 denotes a spiral gear fixed upon the feed shaft and through which said shaft is rotated by means of intermediate connections, not shown, after the voting operation.

4O denotes the clutch controlling or actuating slide which reciprocates in a suitable guideway on the outer face of the shutter plate, and which is provided with a cam block 41 and with a bracket 42 extending through openings in said plate. The cam block 41 is engaged by a cooperating cam block 43 carried by the closing bar 36 when said closing bar is lowered after the voting operation, thereby returning the actuating slide to its normal position after an inde pendent voting operation, as will be more fully explained.

- The clutch shifter 38 is pivoted at 44 to a bracket 45.

46 denotes a rod pivoted at one end to clutch shifter 38, the other end of said rod passing loosely through an aperture in the bracket 42, and being provided with a pin 47.

48 denotes a spring surrounding the rod 46 and interposed between the bracket 42 and the end of the clutch shifter 38.

49 denotes a weight suspended from the clutch shifter 38 in such a position as normally to tend to move said shifter in the direction to engage the clutch sleeve 37 with the clutch member 28. Said Weight is provided for the purpose of insuring the operation of the clutch shifter at the proper time in case of breakage or other accident to the spring 48. Each of the shutters 11 is provided with" an outwardly extending car, not shown, lying in the corresponding aperture for convenience in opening the shutter, and with inwardly extending ear 51 arranged in the path of movement of the closing bar 36. Normally the shutters 11 are all closed and the bar 36, when in its lowermost position,

by engagement with the ears 51, looks said shutters in closed position. The voter when entering the machine operates suitable entrance mechanism, not shown, through connections heretofore referred to, rotates the feed shaft 30 in a direction to raise the bar 36 through the pinions 33 and rack bars 34 and 35, thereby unlocking the independent shutters. After the voting operation, when the voter leaves the machine, the shaft 30 is rotated in the opposite direction and the bar 36, by engagement with the ears 51, closes all open shutters.

52 denotes the interlocking members and 53 links connected to said members and having at their upper ends heads projecting through openings 54 in the shutter plate and openings 55 in the actuating slide 40. The upper end of each of the shutters 11 is formed with an incline 56. \Vhen a shutter is in closed position the head on the corresponding link 53 lies in the lower portion of the opening 54. said head, through its engagement with the incline 56, is forced laterally toward the right, as shown in Fig. 1, against the wall of the corresponding opening 55 in the aetu ating slide, forcing said slide toward the right and taking the slack out of the corresponding interlocking member, as more fully described in Patent No. 914,007 heretofore referred to. This movement of the slide 40 causes the bracket 42 carried thereby to compress the spring 48, thereby oscillating the clutch shifter 38 upon its pivot, and causing the engagement of the clutch members 28 and 37. After the voting operation the shaft 30 is rotated as heretofore described. If there has been no independent voting the clutch members will not be in engagement, and the rotation of the feed shaft will have no effect on the paper receiving or feed roll 15. If there has been independent voting the clutch members will have been engaged as just described, and the rotary which,

W hen a shutter is raisedmovement of the feed shaft will be impart- (Fig 1) into its initial position. During this movement the bracket 42 by engagement with the pin 47 carried by the red 46 will positively disengage the clutch sleeve 37 from-the clutch member 28.

In order to prevent through a voting aperture and, by means of a voter from reaching pressure applied by the fingers against the backing plate, drawing the paper downward a sufficient extent to allow him to record a second vote for the same ofiice, the following.

mechanism is emnloved:

66 denotes a bracket riveted to the rack bar 34and having a vertical bore in which is slidably mounted an operating device in the form of a plunger 67 having at its lower end a projecting operating arm 68. 69 denotes a spring interposed between a head on the plunger and a shoulder in the bore in the bracket 66, said spring normally holding the plunger 67 in an elevated position con trolled b a in 70 inserted in one of a series of holes l in the bracket 66. The pin 70, by engagement with the arm 68, limits the upward movement of the plunger 67 under the influence of the spring 69, so that the normal position of said arm 68 is controlled by the position of said pin.

72 and 73 denote telescoping tubular members provided with 'interengaging pins 74 and 75 arranged transverse to one another, (see Fig. 2) by means of which the telescoping'movement of said members is guided and their entire disengagement prevented. 76 denotes a spring interposed between said members. The member 73 is provided at its lower end with a friction shoe 77 engaging the journal 26 of the feed roll 15 to prevent undue rotation of said feed roll when the paper feed is not in use and when the machine is being moved.

78 denotes a brakedrum secured to the supply roll 14 bymeans of a. pin 79 entering aslot 80 in the end of said roll. 81 denotes a brake band cooperating with said brake drum. Said brake band is secured at one end to the tubular member 72 and at the other end to a lever 82 pivoted at 83 to said member 72 and extended into the path of movement of the arm 68.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows: As the rack bar 34 approaches the upward limit of its movement when the voter enters the machine, as above explained, the arm 68 engages the lever 82,v causing the brake band 81 to be tightened upon the drum 78. This'application of the brake is a yielding one due to the spring 69, but by adjusting the pin 70 the arm 68 can be arranged to engage the lever 82 at a slightly earlier or later point in the travel of the rack bar 34 in order to compensate for wear in the parts or otherwise as may be necessary. The tightening of the brake 81 effectually locks the supply roll '14 against rotation during the voting operation. When the voter leaves the machine the shaft 30 is again rotated, as above explained, causing a downward movement of the rack bar 34. The initial effect of this downward movement is to cause the arm 68 to release the lever 82, thereby loosening the brake 81 and permitting the paper to be fed as above explained.

It will be observed that the downward movement of therack bar 34 required to release the brake 81' is very slight in comparison with the total downward movement of this bar. The release of the supply roll 14 is therefore substantially simultaneous with the beginning of the feed. Any slight movement of the feed roll prior to the-complete release of the brake 81 will, however, have no injurious effect inasmuch as the lock for the supply roll is not a positive one and by further reason of the fact that there is normally a slight amount of slack in the paper more than sufficient to compensate for any momentary holding of the supply roll when the feeding operation is started.-

Having thus described. my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat- 'ent is:

1. In a mechanism of the character de scribed, the combination with a casing having a voting face provided with an opening and a shutter for closing said opening, of means for feeding a voting strip past said opening and mechanism operating alternatively to lock said shutter in closed position and to lock said strip against movement.

2. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with a casing having a voting face provided with an opening and a shutter for closing said opening, of means for feeding 'an independent voting strip past said opening, means said shutter in closed position, and means for unlocking said shutter and locking said strip against movement.

3. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with a casing having a voting face provided with an opening and a shutter for closing said opening, of a supply roll for an independent voting strip, means for feeding the strip past said opening, means for locking said shutter in closed position, a brake drum on said supply roll, a brake band cooperating with said brake drum, and means for unlocking said shutter and tightening said band on said drum.

4. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with a casing having a voting face provided with an opening and a shutter for closing said opening, of means for feeding an independent voting strip past said opening, a locking bar for locking said shutter in closed position, a bar for operating said locking bar, means for locking said strip against movement, and means carried by said operating bar for operating said last-named locking means.

5. In a mechanism of the character described, the combination with a casing having a voting face provided with an opening and a shutter for closing said opening, of a supply roll for an independent voting strip and mechanism operating alternatively for locking 4, I immen- 0 lock said supply roll and to lock said for unlocking said shutten and yieidingiy'w ShT'ttGl in closed position and feed said strip. locking said strip against movement.

6. In a, mechanism of the character de- In testimony whereof I aflix my signaturescribed, the combination with a casing havin presence of two Witnesses ing a voting face provlded with an opening CHARLES C ABBOTT and a shutter for closing said opening, of means for feeding an independent voting Witnesses:

strip past said opening, means for; locking A.:M. Woos'rnn, said shutter in closed POSltiOIl, and means v S. W. A'IHERTON. 

